The present disclosure relates generally to apparatuses, methods and materials that produce color change upon stimulation with radiation and are used in optical data recording media, visual imaging media and devices.
Materials that produce color change upon stimulation with radiation are used in optical recording and imaging media and devices. Further, widespread adoption of and rapid advances in technologies relating to optical recording and imaging media have created a desire for greatly increased data storage capacity in such media. Thus, optical storage technology has evolved from the compact disc (CD) and laser disc (LD) to far denser data types, such as digital versatile disc (DVD) and blue laser formats such as BLU-RAY and high-density DVD (HD-DVD). “BLU-RAY” and the BLU-RAY Disc logo mark are trademarks of the BLU-RAY Disc Founders, which consists of 13 companies in Japan, Korea, Europe, and the U.S.
In each case, the optical recording medium includes a substrate, typically a disc, on which is deposited a layer on which a mark may be created. In some media, the mark is a “pit,” or indentation in the surface of the layer, and the spaces between pits are called “lands.” A marked disc can be read by directing a laser beam at the marked surface and recording changes in the reflected beam. An imaging medium consists of any surface coated with material activated by light.